Dragonstar: Living Steel
by splatterk
Summary: A new age has come, the Starguild has destroyed the Seven Worlds system, but not in its entirety, seven people, each hailing from one of the seven worlds were chosen, and cryogenically frozen. Left on the planet Rhand, they must try to restore their heritage. What does this world, filled with history and danger have in store for them? Can they even trust each other?


**Author's Note: **First story, based on a Dragonstar campaign I was a player in. However, this is not my character's perspective. Anyways, onwards!

Normal Talking

_Whispering or Thinking_

Robotic Voice

* * *

><p>Its cold...so cold...I could hear a loud hissing sound, and clanking. The clear pod door in front of me lifts itself open. I feel my drowsy eyes slowly open, its all a blur, but my body knows what it needs to do to get away from the cold. I take uneasy steps out of the small confined space, my boots making little noise upon stepping out onto the metal floor. I take slow breaths, trying to regulate my breathing, before feeling a sudden knot in my lungs and esophagus. I throw up, mostly water and semi-solid ice. Cryogenic side effect, nothing to worry about. My vision clears, and I sort of recognize where I am, a cryogenic chamber. A variety of pods line the wall to my left and right, five other pods. Wait...five? That's not right. My memories flood in. I am Neerna Underdome, nickname "Codex", military mechanist to the Seven World forces. Seven Worlds...my homeland. Its what it sounds, a small nation consisting of seven planets, each one unique in its own way. I come from the world of Ghauna, home to drow, like myself. Each of my companions hails from their own world, only one was chosen from each world for this mission. I don't know much about them, or their worlds. I wasn't given the time to study about them. All I was told was that I'd be the one best briefed on the operation, and the first to wake up. This was the last desperate attempt of my nation, to put us into a cryogenic sleep, so that we would wake up years later and attempt to reform the Seven Worlds somehow. We were losing a war against our enemy, the Starguild. A brutal mercenary organization that had recently risen to power due to a political situation I didn't care to understand, all I knew is that we were being attacked, and that I could help. Most of the systems were shut off, both on the pods and the building's. The date we were frozen was no longer visible.<p>

"_Great. Now how will we figure out how long we were in here? I hope someone remembers._" I thought.

Ignoring that, I turn to my first concern, the pods. There's only six including mine. But there's seven worlds, therefore there should be seven pods. I notice a long-term storage room, meant to hold and store anything for years without letting it deteriorate. It has a manual door, big, very heavy, and sturdy, but nothing I couldn't manage. Turning a huge crank on it, I could hear the hissing behind it, the measures taken to prevent deterioration, primarily freezing, were being undone. As the process was taking place, I turn around to scan the room once more, and only then notice the set of armor, sword, and shield at the back of it. I move over to examine them. The suit of armor was a full-plate set and it was huge, designed for a very tall person it seems. One topic that I researched on my own was Earth, home to humans and the first planet of the Seven Worlds. I studied its medieval history to be precise, it was very interesting, knowing that we were only at that stage of development when humans found the drow on our home planet. This suit might as well have been pulled straight out of the era. Its helmet covered the whole head, only leaving two small holes for the eyes to look out, the chin slightly protrudes off of it, and a horn adorns the forehead. The torso had a protruding wedge shape out of the top, and had a small separation above the lumbar, presumably to allow more mobility, the shoulder and knee joints were adorned with spikes, and the fore arms also had protruding spikes that bent backwards. The sword and shield I can't identify, but they seem in near-perfect shape. Its probably a relic that we will have to preserve, I'm sure there are more inside the storage room as well.

"_If this un-preserved equipment is in this shape, we surely can't have slept for too long, right?" _I thought. I mused with that thought for a while.

* * *

><p>The loud "clanks" coming from the metal door indicate the door bolts have been removed. I move back and push the door open, revealing a large room. To my left was an arsenal, lined with a variety of weapons, and stacks of matching ammunition, to the back of the room, seems to be a kitchen area with preserved food, hopefully enough to sustain us for a while, to my right there is a table, on top of it are four folders, labeled equipment, candidates, information, and orders. I swipe the "orders" folder, and open it to see a single sheet of paper.<p>

In it it contains a few things. "You are located on the planet Rhand, a planet filled with harsh weather, and by the time you awaken, likely overrun by bandits at odds with the Starguild. With the supplies you have been given it is your duty to restore the Seven Worlds. Save our people's heritage, and sow the seed for a better civilization." Rather short, seeing how little time we had to set this mission up, not very surprising. Doesn't say how long we've been asleep though.

I put down the folder, then take and open the "candidates" folder, it contains 7 sheets of paper, each contains information of one of us here.

"But there are only 6 pods including mine...what's going on?" I thought out-loud.

The first sheet is mine, it contains basic information, name, race, age, height, weight, medical history, well as a picture of myself. Some parts were blacked out with what seemed to be a permanent marker. I pass over it, I know myself.

"Very old fashioned way of storing information." I comment to myself.

The next sheet's picture shows a female figure, with red skin, blue eyes, black hair...which a pair of horns protrude out of. A tiefling, denizen of the planet of Baur. I skimmed over her details, her name is Ravalynn Blackbard, she's 5'2" in height, an inch shorter than myself, 23 years old. A scout, good at hiding, but also good in a fight according to her record. The page has some of the black marks that mine had too. Probably hiding important information in case this is found by an enemy.

"I'll most likely be the oldest one here. Hopefully that'll be good for something!" I keep on talking to no one.

Third sheet, the picture is of a golem. Not surprising, a Tarn Idoun, these people come from a planet of the same name. Armanthus, 6 feet tall, 156...years...old. Dammit. By the picture, you'd take him for a sort of tank, but apparently he knows a good amount of magic, and is rather fragile due to his composition. I know a few spells, but nothing major. A few black marks here and there on the paper. He probably isn't much of a talker.

The fourth page contains the picture of a woman, with cat's ears. Catfolk. I can't seem to recall their planet of origin. Isabella, she's 10 feet tall, and only 22 years old. I'll never understand how they can develop so much so fast. She's a paladin in service of a deity named Fharlanghn, which I know nothing about. Paladins are rare in this era, but they are there. They can wield great power from the miracle's their deities allow them to do. This page has considerably more black strikes across it. The armor outside in the cryo-chamber probably belongs to her.

The next two pages have even more black strikes, there's not much I can get from either. One is of a Sathoni, plant people from Gaia. Says here her name is Nightbloom, she's a masterful tactician, we'll probably appoint her as the leader. The other is Ghumdul, a half-ork, from Ghaul, and a cleric in service of the "Earth Mother". A rather odd profession for a half-ork, but like the paladin, they command power given to them by a deity, so I'm sure it will come in handy.

I'm running out of time, the other's might wake up soon. I go out of the room, folder in hand. I head to the doors leading out of here, specifically the one labled "power generator". I want to get this base at least slightly up and running before the others wake. When I step in front of the door, it does not open. Right. No power. I try to force it open, but its reinforcement mechanisms prove too strong.

I mutter under my breath "Great, now I'm stuck waiting here until the bulkier one of us can open this."

I head back into the armory, going to sit down and read the last file in the folder, I'm still wondering why there's seven sheets, and only six pods.

"Hello, Codex." A familiar robotic voice calls out.

I can't help but let a smile creep unto my face, I turn to the source, amongst the weapons and armor lies one specific armor, a Jangala Hardsuit, EVE. EVE, my own power armor with a computer personality, I installed EVE onto the armor a few weeks after I was given the armor, and since then, she has accompanied me the whole way through, she's sort of a comfort object to me.

I stroll over to her, and start picking her up, and putting the armor on me.

"Hello Eve!" I cheerfully call out.

"It has been a while." She responds.

"Oh yeah, I've been wondering, how long has it been?"

She seemed to stop to think for a moment

"Data unavailable, removed for unknown reasons"

I've finished donning the armor at this point.

"Well then, it seems the superiors didn't want us to know."

"It would appear so."

"No matter, they know what's best. How long until the others come out of cryo?"

"Approximately half an hour."

"Alright, thanks Eve."

"You're welcome."

I head back over and sit down on a chair, it groans under my armor's weight, not all that surprising, its twice as heavy as I am, I wouldn't be able to wear it without the strength implant that activates when I wear it.

I open up the folder, and bring out the last sheet, no more wait, I want as much information about my fellow "candidates" as I can gather. The sheet I hold has no picture. Everything is marked out, except very few details.

Name: Darius

Race: Unknown

A long page of black strikes.

Traits: Unpredictable, Dangerous, Inhuman strength

I did not like what I saw. At all. People like this only had one name for me, an "Unknown", a variable, an unpredictable one. This only increases my work-load. I'm going to have to fill in the blanks here. At least enough of them to know I can trust him. He may have been the top soldier in the whole Seven Worlds military for all I care. If I know nothing about someone I don't trust them.

Shaking my head, I put down the folder on the table, and pick up the equipment folder, and pull out my own sheet, and proceed to grab off the equipment assigned to me. Two blaster pistols with laser sights, along with many minicells, which serve as ammo, a backpack, personal communicator, and a lot of survival gear for various scenarios, including bio-hazards and harsh conditions. A datapad with some chips for it, and various mechanic tools, my trade and comfort. There's a few more items here and there, but I'll know when those come in handy.

Sharp hissing coming from the hall indicates that everyone else has started to wake up, their pod doors should open up any minute and they should stumble out groggily like I did. I grab "Unknown's" sheet, and stick it in my backpack, to make sure I can identify him, and walk out to greet the others. The largest pod opens up first, most likely belonging to Isabella, the catfolk. I was right, out of it steps a tall figure, feminine, and well toned. She sort of looks in my direction before dropping to hands and knees, presumably to vomit, like I did, but she seems to hold it down, and stands up. At full height she's quite intimidating. She looks down at me, I freeze, almost like primal terror, even though I know I shouldn't have anything to worry about. She takes a good look at me before a smile slides across her face. She tries to speak, but a rough croak is all that comes out. I tilt my head curiously, her friendly demeanor calming my senses down, but I still feel anxious. She clears her throat, and tries to speak again.

"Hello." She calls out, with a voice I expected to be low pitched, but it was actually quite normal.

"Um...H-hello." I stammer out.

She goes down onto one knee, her head still much above my own, and extends a hand. I flinch instinctively, before feeling her ruffle my long hair. Like a child. To be fair I was acting like one, and I couldn't control myself.

"No need to be afraid, I assume you are a drow?" Her soft tone manages to calm me down fully, I take a deep breath to control myself, and reply.

"Yes, my name is Neerna Underdome, but call me Codex, please."

"Good to meet you, Codex, I am Isabella of Khenjode, paladin of Fharlanghn"

Before we could continue talking, the rest of the pods start opening one after another. We both agree to introduce ourselves along with the rest. One after another, faces I recognize from the folder climb out, of course, the one missing is this "Darius", and honestly I feel glad. Most of them vomit like I did, the half-ork doesn't, he doesn't let himself even gag. As soon as they recover from the side-effects of cryogenic sleep, we head to the storage room, and I brief them with what I was told, our mission to restore Seven Worlds, the limited supplies we have, and our need to restore power to this base. All of them nod in agreement, which pleases me, it tells me they know what to do, I feel more at ease.

"_At least I have competent companions, or so it would_ seem" I thought to myself

* * *

><p>They each gather their assigned equipment, emptying the arsenal. I lead them over to the door to the power generator. Not even the combined efforts of Isabella, who is quite strong, being a catfolk and Ravalynn, who is surprisingly strong despite her size and figure, are able to open it. Ravalynn, keen as she is, managed to find the manual release of the door. The door leads through a narrow corridor, though it-no the whole base is tall, apparently made to be able to hold catfolk as well as normal sized people. There is another door at the end of the corridor, which leads out to a hallway, to our left is the power generator, and to our right a lift, presumably not operational due to the lack of power. We walk through, pulling both doors shut behind us, activating the reinforcement mechanisms again. As soon as we restore power, the doors should work on their own, so there was no need of moving the food supplies in the storage room.<p>

I start working on the generator, while the others keep watch. After working for a while, replacing a few parts here and there, I turn to look at the others, and I just now noticed Isabella seems very uneasy. She's a big, strong catfolk paladin, I don't think theres many things that can put her at unease.

"Isabella, is anything wrong?" I ask

"Uh..w-what? Well..." She stammers, seeming anxious, maybe I was too sudden?

"What's the matter?"

She takes a sigh, and a moment to formulate her thoughts, at this point everyone's noticed, leaving their quiet chatter and silence to hear this.

Isabella finally speaks "When we were leaving, I couldn't help but feel a very ominous presence behind me, I turned around, but I only saw that suit of armor at the back...I think that item is cursed, or possessed."

My thoughts shift quickly _"What? She must be going cra-...paladins can supposedly detect good and evil, as well as clerics." _I look towards Ghumdul, who nods, seemingly understanding my silent question. Silence ensues, it seems everyone is trying to make something out of this.

Questions run through my head "_If that suit of armor is not Isabella's, who's is it? Why would they send us something that apparently gives off so much evil as to put a catfolk at unease? Should we dispose of it?_" As all this runs through my head, Nightbloom, the sathoni, speaks up.

"Well I think tha-" Almost as if on cue, I heard a loud metal "clank" behind the door. Everyone fell silent, and looked towards it, as did I. All was still for a moment, then another "clank" rang out, and another, and another. At this point everyone seems to be on edge, everyone pulls out their weapons, I pull out my two blaster pistols, and we all take aim at the door. The clanking continues, it is heard a few more times before it stops.

"_Its right behind the cryo-chamber door"_ I hear Nightbloom whisper, nobody else seems to notice. There's a horrible groaning noise, and I hear a metallic "cling". Another metallic "cling", then the horribly loud metal groaning. It stops shortly, and the previous clanking resumes, this time it is very clear as it stops in front of the door that opens straight to us. Isabella seems to be on the edge of a panic attack, seemingly muttering a prayer, Ghumdul is grimacing. Whatever they are feeling now, it must be terrifying. I turn my attention towards the door, as it groans, and the left portion of it slightly budges. Its too dark in the corridor to see whats inside. Then a pair of...gauntlets?...come out of the gap, and grab onto either portion of the sliding door, and pull them open with a horrible groan from the mechanisms trying to resist in vain. Not even our two strongest members were able to pull it open, and whatever this was, was doing it with little signs of strain.

The doors open completely, and out of the shadows steps out a tall figure. Isabella seems on the verge of a mental-breakdown, but at the same time her face slightly hints at curiousness. Ghumdul, while not as bad, also has that hint of curiousness. Everyone else is showing a serious, or a determined face.

The figure comes into view, and what I see shocks me. Its the armor, the same one I inspected after waking up. There was nobody else in that room but me, and the other 5 people here, and at that time they were all still in a cryogenic sleep. As my mind tried to think of a possible explanation, the armored figure was not moving, the sword sheathed on his back, the shield stowed on it as well.

It was not moving...and yet I felt like it was watching us all...

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Hope you enjoyed. Please review this, I'll be uploading a few more chapters, if this gains interest, I'll continue it for a while longer, after which I'll start more projects.


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